Decline of a biome: evolution, contraction, fragmentation, extinction and invasion of the Australian mesic zone biota
The aims are to review and refine key hypotheses derived from palaeoclimatic data and the fossil record that are critical to understanding the evolution of the Australian mesic biota and examine predictions arising from these hypotheses using available molecular phylogenetic and phylogeographical data.
Evolutionary relationships between morphology, performance and habitat openness in the lizard genus Niveoscincus (Scincidae: Lygosominae)
- J. Melville, R. Swain
- Biology, Environmental Science
- 1 August 2000
One of the few studies relating limb morphology, functional capabilities, and habitat in reptiles test the hypothesis that species occupying open microhabitats would possess relatively longer limbs and faster sprint speeds than those occurring in more closed microhabITats and demonstrated an evolutionary trend in Niveoscincus.
The role of geography and ecological opportunity in the diversification of day geckos (Phelsuma).
- L. Harmon, J. Melville, A. Larson, J. Losos
- Biology, Environmental ScienceSystematic Biology
- 1 August 2008
Rates of morphological evolution are higher in both the Mascarene and Seychelles archipelagos compared to rates on Madagascar, suggesting that ecological opportunity is an important factor in diversification of day gecko species.
Molecular phylogenetic evidence for ancient divergence of lizard taxa on either side of Wallace's Line
- J. Schulte, J. Melville, A. Larson
- Environmental ScienceProceedings of the Royal Society of London…
- 22 March 2003
It is shown that the split between taxa in the South East Asian and the Australian-New Guinean geological regions occurred during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in two independent lizard clades, compatible with the hypothesis of rifting Gondwanan continental fragments during the Mesozoic.
Intercontinental community convergence of ecology and morphology in desert lizards
- J. Melville, L. Harmon, J. Losos
- BiologyProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological…
- 7 March 2006
It is found that evolutionary convergence of ecology and morphology occurs both in overall, community-wide patterns and in terms of pairs of highly similar intercontinental pairs of species, indicating that in these desert lizards, deterministic adaptive evolution shapes community patterns and overrides the historical contingencies unique to particular lineages.
A molecular phylogenetic study of ecological diversification in the Australian lizard genus Ctenophorus.
- J. Melville, J. Schulte, A. Larson
- BiologyThe Journal of experimental zoology
- 15 December 2001
Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the ancestral condition is to use burrows for shelter, and that habits of sheltering in rocks and shrubs/hummock grasses represent separately derived conditions.
Tree Thinking: An Introduction to Phylogenetic Biology
- J. Melville
- BiologyCopeia
- 30 December 2013
EVIDENCE OF CONSTRAINED PHENOTYPIC EVOLUTION IN A CRYPTIC SPECIES COMPLEX OF AGAMID LIZARDS
- Katie L. Smith, L. Harmon, L. Shoo, J. Melville
- BiologyEvolution; international journal of organic…
- 1 April 2011
There was an overriding signature of constrained evolution influencing morphological divergence between clades, and the utility of using a combination of phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological data to investigate evolutionary mechanisms maintaining cryptic species is illustrated.
Evolutionary origins and diversification of dragon lizards in Australia's tropical savannas.
- J. Melville, E. Ritchie, S. Chapple, R. Glor, J. Schulte
- Environmental Science, BiologyMolecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
- 1 February 2011
Historical biogeography, phylogenetic relationships and intraspecific diversity of agamid lizards in the Central Asian deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
- J. Melville, Joshua M. Hale, G. Mantziou, N. Ananjeva, K. Milto, N. Clemann
- Environmental Science, BiologyMolecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
- 1 October 2009
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